What does 'The Voice' contract entail? Contestants sign up for utter humiliation on NBC show
UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA: To sing to the back of a chair, how many rights are you ready to give up? 'The Voice' competitors had to sign a leaked legal contract to be on the TV talent show, which has revealed the production's potential for distortion and the power NBC makes sure it has.
The NY Daily News in 2014 was able to get a 32-page contract that outlines the producers's rights to remove any contestant from the lineup, alter competition criteria at their whim, write winners, and send singing contestants for psychiatric and/or medical testing with public dissemination of the results. It is also said that a clause permits them to disregard the voting mechanism on the broadcast in "the event of problems."
'The Voice' singers could be portrayed in poor light
Reality television is renowned for insulating itself from legal risk. That being said, when a 2014 contract between 'The Voice' and one of its participants leaked online, it looked awful.
According to the contract that was released, "The show 'may be disparaging, defamatory, embarrassing and may expose them to public ridicule, humiliation or condemnation'." Additionally, it stated that NBC may have participants "undergo medical and psychological evaluations" and "publicize the results."
Intense contracts could bear after 'The Voice' impact
For many of the vocalists who wanted to try out for the event, the leaked paper appeared a bit scary. The contract's specifics also reveal how much influence the program has over competitors's careers, even after the season concludes.
It has provisions that would force competitors to work with the show's management and recording label for a certain amount of time, perhaps years, therefore controlling the course of their musical careers.
'The Voice' contract leaves contestants no room to sue NBC
The contract is designed to prevent any of the up-and-coming reality stars from subsequently suing NBC. "The second clause of this document says to contestants, 'F--k you'," a legal expert told the NY Daily News.
"And if you missed it, the clauses that follow say, 'F--k you.'"
Such measures are preventive, according to NBC and the show's producers, who have denied that any manipulation takes place during the production process, such as altering the voting numbers.
On September 23 at 8 pm ET, NBC will premiere the twenty-sixth season of the American reality television series 'The Voice'.
